09-02-2025
Pennsylvania company plans to land rover on moon: ‘This is how we lead,' Fetterman said
PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Pennsylvania robotics company aims to put a robotic rover on the moon by the end of the year and U.S. Senator John Fetterman said he fully supports the mission.
The company wants to 'FLIP' — FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform — as part of Astrobotic's Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1). Venturi Astrolab (Astrolab) and Astrobotic announced that the Griffin lander will put the Astrolab rover on the moon's south pole. It's scheduled to land by the end of 2025 as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS).
'Astrobotic received worldwide interest from dozens of organizations eager to fly aboard Griffin-1, and we conducted a rigorous selection process to identify the mission partner that aligned best with our timeline and Griffin's capabilities,' Astrobotic's founder and CEO John Thorton said in a release.
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What was originally supposed to be NASA's VIPER, the organization scrapped plans due to cost and budget restrictions, however, they contracted out their plans for a lunar rover.
'Losing VIPER could've been a setback, but Astrobotic didn't let up. They rolled up their sleeves, found a new way forward, and made sure this mission stayed on track. With Astrolab's FLIP rover onboard, we're showing the world that when challenges come our way, we double down,' U.S. Senator John Fetterman said in the release.
FLIP is meant to land at the lunar south pole and demonstrates functions similar to the company's FLEX rover which was revealed in 2023, Astrolab announced an agreement with Elon Musk's SpaceX to help land the lunar rover on the moon by the end of 2025.
'This is how we lead—not by playing it safe but by pushing forward with the technology that'll shape the future of exploration. I couldn't be prouder that Pennsylvania's Astrobotic is making sure America stays first in line to the lunar South Pole,' Fetterman added.
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